Pwll y Wrach always delights

I joined the some of the Powys Road Verge Nature Reserve volunteers for their annual joint outing at Pwll y Wrach yesterday. This is billed as Brecknock Wildlife Trust's most popular reserve and deservedly. In my experience it always has delights in store at any time of year.

Possibly yesterday's highlight was the largest population of Hard Fern I have seen - looking magnificent in the dappled sun. I don't suppose this photograph does full justice...

Hard-fern, Gwibredynen or Blechnum spicant

We were also pleased to encounter Water Avens (or maybe its hybrid with Wood Avens) on the climb up to the waterfall.

This probably is is Hybrid Avens, Mapgoll groesryw or Geum x intermedium

And we saw much more - including on the road verge on our return - it's one of the verges in the scheme.

Another very hasty one

Here are some pictures of Fedw Wood, which was well worth braving the rain for. (the rain soon stopped as well.)

The bluebells were very good but not a lot else in the understory. There were interesting trees though - a regenerating Wych Elm and an assortment of Birches including these magnificent ones - with very fissured bark:

And then next day Steph and I were looking at Globeflowers of a tributary of the Llynfi:

(A very species rich meadow in private ownership.)

Ignore the forecast

I do watch the weather forecast but Thursday was the only day I could manage and it didn't look too bad... So I was very pleased that three joined me for a spot of recording in Cwm Cadlan with the off-chance of confirming a record from 1983 of a rather unlikely (but not impossible) species of Mouse-ear. We didn't find it but intriguingly found habitat it wouldn't be out of place in and the two common relatives were there as expected. But best of all we had glorious weather - even sun and some great views, albeit after a dampish but bearable start.

Eating our lunch with this view:

I was very glad Paul Green was with us - in the grazed turf there I would have taken twice as long to find half as much. As it is I learnt several species in minimal vegetative state under Paul's guidance. We even saw some dandelions which I was able to say half-literate things about.

Common Whitlowgrass, Llysiau’r-bystwn ar or Erophila verna - abundant in places

Brittle Bladder-fern, Ffiolredynen frau or Cystopteris fragilis in the rock crevices

Looking back as we returned.

 

Botanising along the rock ledges

An old lime kiln used by locals in the past ?

And finally - a preview of the Pwll y Wrach walk at the Talgarth festival on Sunday (when the weather is set fine). Many thanks to Dainis Ozols for the picture and especially for clearing our path for Sunday.